App company awarded government loan

Peterborough This Week

(PETERBOROUGH) Money invested in Konrad Group will go directly to hiring people or finding space for the newly-hired to work, says co-CEO Bill Konrad.
It’s that goal of job creation that the federal government is building on with a $500,000 loan to the company through the Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation.
Konrad Group develops applications for mobile devices like smart phones and tablets that are client-tailored to help companies solve sales, marketing, and production problems.
Mr. Konrad says there has been a major shift for business software where companies once looked to desktop computers to do this work, then it was the web, and now it’s mobile.
The company was founded in Toronto but has a small office in Peterborough where about three of the 50 or so people employed by Konrad Group work, but Mr. Konrad expects to add another five to 10 for Peterborough as it hires 80 in the next 12 to 18 months.
“We’re growing like crazy,” he says.
He’s planning for the Peterborough office to take on a larger role in the company.
The loan was announced Tuesday morning (Dec. 18) at MP Dean Del Mastro’s office.
MP Del Mastro says his government’s first priority is the economy and is focusing on the drivers of growth while keeping taxes low and planning a return to a balanced budget.
He describes Mr. Konrad as an impressive young man developing a technology business that can create some of the success seen in Silicon Valley.
“We welcome the Konrad Group and their investments,” he says.